Introduction
Whether you play tennis for fun or sport, the game has many benefits. Playing tennis indoors, outdoors or even in a gym can work for a great aerobic workout. It helps to regulate your blood pressure and heart rate to foster a healthier cardiovascular system. No doubt why playing tennis is a great method to prevent any health conditions especially related to the cardiovascular system.
Besides this, tennis also helps to tone your body while maintaining your weight. Tennis training can tone your core muscles, increase the flexibility of the body, and help with body fat and bone density. Not to forget, how this sport helps to improve your hand-eye coordination when you track the ball and hit it. So no doubt why tennis is perfect for an all-around workout. Luckily it is a versatile sport so you can play it in any season.
But while you want to get perfect at this sport, it is necessary to create a tennis workout routine that can help to boost your on-court tennis performance. In this article, we will learn the different types of tennis workout routines you can include in your regular exercise routine to improve your tennis skills.
Why should you create a Tennis fitness routine?
As mentioned above, tennis is a very good overall workout routine for the human body. Then why do we need to create a workout training routine for tennis itself? The simple answer is that if you want to improve your tennis skills and play professionally then you should have a tennis workout routine. This routine can help to improve the flexibility of your muscles and hence help you play better on the court.
The main organs involved while you play tennis include your arms, legs, and the core muscles. So when you craft a tennis workout routine to train for tennis, you should focus on strength exercises on these organs. Also, make sure to add your workout plan to your weekly tennis routine so you can see an improvement in just no time.
Best Tennis Workout Routine
1. Dynamic Warm-up exercises like Light Cardio
Before beginning your tennis workout it is important to warm your body up. The best way to warm up and ease your body into the warm-up process is by doing light cardio. If you have a treadmill, then you can warm up on it as it will help to pump blood into your legs and increase your heart rate. But if you do not have any equipment, then skipping or jogging around the court can also work.
The major aim of these exercises is to help stretch your arms and legs which can prepare you for more serious exercises.
2. Short Sprints
Short sprints have movements that resemble the movements while you play tennis on the court. For the same reason, you can indulge in quick short springs that can help to improve your tennis skills. If you want to do quick short sprints in the court then you can sprint from the baseline to the service line. Eventually increase the distance to the net and then to the fence. Apart from this, you can do short sprint in off-court areas as well. For this, you may require treadmill sprints that can be done in different sessions of 20 seconds, 30 seconds, and 40 seconds each.
3. Plyometric Exercises for Tennis Training
Plyometric exercises are done to increase strength and reaction time on the court while also enhancing your nerve tissues. You can include different power-building plyometric exercises from time to time in your workout routine. Besides this, strength endurance circuit training sessions should also be done 2 times a week. But make sure when you do the circuit training session it doesn’t clash with your power-building exercises.
Circuit training sessions include different types of exercise that target your body weight. Each exercise here is done for approximately 1 full minute and after each exercise, you can take a rest of 30 seconds. Once you have done 2 to 3 circuits, you can take a rest of 2 minutes. However, make sure to indulge in a warm-up and cool-down session before and after each circuit training session.
4. Strength Training
If you want to become a professional tennis player, then one of the most important aspects you must have is strength. So it is very important to incorporate strength training into your tennis workout routine. Strength training has a number of benefits and you need to work on both your lower and upper body strength. For this, you can choose compound exercises that provide benefits to multiple muscle groups simultaneously. Some good exercises here include deadlifts, squats, overhead presses, bench presses, etc.
Strength training will not just increase your strength but also improve your stroke power which will help to keep your muscles in good shape. It will also help with tennis injury prevention.
5. Cardiovascular Exercises to Improve Endurance on the Court
Playing tennis requires high-intensity movement which can only be achieved if you include cardiovascular exercises in your tennis workout routine. These exercises help improve endurance on the court by increasing your heart rate and hence increasing the amount of oxygen delivered to your lungs. .
Another way to improve endurance on the court through cardiovascular exercises is interval training. interval training includes alternating periods of high-intensity effort and active recovery. Or you can even engage in footwork drills that imitate the tennis movements required on the court. Due to the same reason, the movement facilitates better hand-eye coordination and can even help to develop strength.
Lastly do not forget about cross-training that includes activities like swimming or rowing. But make sure you are consistent with these practices because improving your endurance requires consistency.
6. Proper Tennis Diet in a Tennis Workout Plan
A good workout routine is successful only when it is complemented by appropriate nutrition and diet. A balanced diet including protein, dietary fibre, simple sugars, vitamins and minerals, fluids, and electrolytes are important. You can intake simple sugars after your training session because they can help to replenish all the carbohydrates that have been depleted during training.
Protein from meat or eggs will foster the tissue repair and development process. So the best time to consume protein can be after your training session. Dietary fibre improves digestion and hence regulates metabolism.
Make sure to include vitamins and minerals as well in your diet. Electrolytes and fluids can be consumed during or after your workout. But do not drink too much fluids while you are working out.
Leaving any of these important nutrients can lead to deficiencies and hence will have a severe effect on your musculoskeletal as well as cardiovascular systems.
Conclusion
In this era of technology and digitalization, the importance of a tennis workout routine has increased. Though there was a time when even professional players did not have a specific tennis workout routine, now the importance of this routine cannot be stated enough. Even professional players now must create a personalized type of tennis fitness routine for themselves that can help to increase their efficiency while they are on the court.
Good Luck!
